Look At Us Now
by arilovexo
Summary: A fictional story about R5's battle to make their dreams come true, told through Rydel's eyes, read as they fight through loss, anger, hate and depression and through it all, with the encouragement from their family and friends, they never give up the hope that their dreams would one day come true. Ellington/Rydel Ross/Laura


_Okay, so here's a new story. It's going to be split up into two parts. The second part is almost finished. But the first one is kind of like a beginning, early on type of thing, if you will. It's based on a magazine article I read in which R5 said they were rejected a lot and told they would never make it and that was what influenced the song Look At Us Now. It's not written yet in the story, but it will be mentioned later on. I really like the song, it's one of my favourites._

_I may not have all the facts right, but that's okay. It's a fictional story anyways. I wasnt really there, So I dont know what actually happened. _

_This chapter, also, as it's a beginning, it mainly focuses on Rydel and Ellington and it's told through Rydel's point of view, the whole story will be actually. So, yeah. Ross and Laura are in it later on, promise. I know you love them, so I will have them in there as well._

_Okay, well, that's it, I think. I don't own anything. Enjoy! _

* * *

><p>"Our first show guys, we're totally going to kill it."<p>

She looked up at her older brother and smiled. He was for sure the most optimistic one in the band and she couldn't be happier for him in that moment.

She was nervous, she was scared and she was really excited.

"Remember what our coach said?" Her brother continued, "come on, let's go, Ready, Set, Rock on three." Herself, her brothers and her friend, put their hands in the middle of the huddle. "Ready? One two three!"

"READY SET ROCK!" They yelled and then she jumped up and down and shook out her hair.

"There's only like five people in the audience," Another one of her brothers said.

"Shut up, Ross," Her brother, Rocky told him. "Who cares who's out there, let's just… go with it."

Ross nodded and rolled his eyes as soon as Rocky turned around.

"Okay, go Ellington and Rydel!" Riker said as he pushed them forward. She looked behind her at Ellington, who just smiled back at her. He took her hand as he passed her and squeezed it. She had barely enough time to squeeze back before he went to sit at the drum set. She walked to her place behind the keyboards and looked behind her to see her brothers were going to their places as well.

Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh.

Then, Riker spoke, "hey guys! Ready to rock?" And with that, Ellington started playing the drums and she had to hit her cue for the keyboards.

And that was when the band's first ever concert, really started.

* * *

><p>After they said their thank yous to the few people that had shown up, they ran off the stage and were immediately greeted by their family members with huge hugs. Rydel had noticed that everyone, (including herself), were still feeding off the energy from the performance so as they excitedly talked about it, she slowly started to calm down. She saw that she had a good exit and while needing to be away from her family for a moment, she slowly walked back onto the stage.<p>

"That band dude," She heard somebody say. "They were horrible, why did they even let them play here?"

"Yeah," The other person answered, "seriously, they sucked. They're just wasting their time trying to get a record deal. None of them had talent."

"Seriously, one of the worst bands I have ever seen live." The other guy agreed.

She felt tears come to her eyes and peaked around the corner to see the guys who were talking. She soon saw them and then once her vision blurred, she turned away quickly.

"Hey there you are," She heard and looked up to see Ellington was right in front of her. He saw the look on her face, "what's wrong? Rydel? What happened?" He asked her, going to hug her. She hugged him back and cried into his shoulder, taking a deep breath before she broke away from him and walked into the view of the two guys who had been talking so badly about her band.

"What is your problem?" She asked them, realizing that her face probably looked horrible and that she also most likely got her make up all over Ellington's shirt. "Why are you so mean?"

"Oh shit," The darker haired one looked away.

"It's life." The red head answered. "You're going to get turned down by so many people, it's not even going to be funny."

"Right, like you would know," She responded, rolling her eyes. "You're in a club getting drunk, what do you know about the music business?"

"I know enough to know that what I saw up there, wasn't talent. And if anyone says it's good it's probably only going to be a family member saying it because they're afraid to hurt your feelings."

"Okay, dude, stop." The dark-haired guy said. "She's a young girl and saying that was super harsh."

"Do you really think we're that bad?" She asked him, her eyes still filled with tears.

He nodded, "yeah I really do."

She looked down for a moment. She heard her name being called by Ellington and then looked back up at the two guys, "we'll show you." She responded, "you're going to regret ever saying that." And before he could respond, she spun around and stormed away.

"What happened?" Ellington asked as soon as she was backstage again.

"They said we were horrible," She told him, as her brothers joined them, curious themselves about why she was upset. "That we would never get a record deal because we sucked."

"Don't listen to them," Riker said, "they don't know anything."

Rydel shrugged and looked down.

"It's only our first show," Ross softly said, "who cares what those drunk idiots think?"

"We'll show them. They'll regret ever saying that," Rocky promised her.

"Yeah, we've just gotta practice more and work harder." Riker agreed. He hugged his sister, "don't feel bad okay?"

She nodded and hugged him back, "okay." She whispered.

* * *

><p>Rehearsals started to become more and more difficult to keep going with.<p>

Because she and her brothers were homeschooled, they were able to rehearse pretty much anytime of the day. The problem was Ellington. He still went to public school and waiting all day for him to come to their house to rehearse was beginning to become tiresome and annoying to everyone else.

He apologized over and over, but she knew that if they didn't get the practice in that that needed, then the guys who had talked so much shit at their first show, were going to be proven right and that was the last thing she wanted.

After rehearsals, late into the night (which was also starting to become a problem because Ellington normally and to wake up super early the next morning and was usually too tired to wake up for school), Rydel had walked downstairs and into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

She had originally thought she was alone, but she soon heard a soft, "hey," and turned around, her hand to her chest.

"Ellington!" She whined, "you scared me!"

He softly laughed and then shook his head, his hands going to his pockets as he sat down on one of the stools at the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"What's bugging you?" He asked her. She blinked, confused, "right, California term. You're still learning them." She rolled her eyes, "it means what's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me," She said, "or as you said, bugging me," She imitated him by making her voice deeper, as she sat down beside him and slid of glass of water over to him. He caught it and sipped it, before thoughtfully looking over at her.

"I know there's something bothering you," He studied her for a few moments, "are you still thinking about what those guys said a week ago?"

She looked away, "don't you have school in the morning? Shouldn't you go home and do your homework or something?"

"Rydel," He said, his tone firm. "Don't worry about that, I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine." She said, "I'm just tired and I have to go to dance class tomorrow and-" His hand was on top of hers. She froze and looked up at him.

"You can talk to me, about anything you know." He told her, "just don't feel like you have to hold back anything okay? We're friends. We're bandmates, we've got each other's backs."

That made her smile, "I know."

He nodded and then let go of her hand. She found herself missing the contact already.

He finished drinking his water and with that, turned around and got off the stool. "See you tomorrow?"

She nodded, "see you tomorrow." She responded.

"Same time, same place, be there."

She giggled, "count on it."

He winked at her and with that, left. She turned to face the window where she could see the backyard and smiled as she watched her brothers play around outside.

It would be okay. After all, she figured, this is what they all wanted. And they were all going to work their asses off to become more successful. No matter what.

* * *

><p>Four shows later and they're still getting told they weren't going to amount to anything.<p>

She watched as the audience members began to leave in the middle of the shows, shaking their heads and then going to the front to get their money back.

Her eyes filled with tears as she watched them leave. She forced herself to keep playing and by the end, ran off the stage.

They had started with about thirty people, the most people they had ever seen show up for a show.

By the end, they only had about less than half left in the audience.

And about eight of the people were their families that had come to watch them play.

By that point, she just wanted to give up.

But she knew she couldn't, no matter what she had to keep going.

* * *

><p>Ten shows later, someone had hit her in the head with a soft, but still painful object.<p>

She stopped playing the keyes for a moment and held her head.

Ellington had noticed it and abruptly stopped playing the drums as he ran over to her to check on her.

"Rydel?" He asked and she just shook her head.

"What happened?" Rocky asked her, quickly going over to her as Riker muttered some kind of apology and joined Ross by her side.

"I got hit with something," She said quietly. "Did you?"

Rocky, Ellington, Riker and Ross all shared a look before shaking their heads.

"We didn't get hit." Ross answered.

"You guys suck!" Someone yelled, "especially the girl wearing the tutu! Get off the stage bitch!"

She gasped and her eyes filled with tears. Her hands started to shake and without even waiting for her brothers and Ellington to say a word, she just ran off the stage and to her mother who immediately hugged her tight as she cried into her chest.

Her hands were shaking as she finally started to calm down. She turned around and heard her father say something, before everyone else joined her backstage.

"Security kicked that guy out," Ellington told her, his hand going to her shoulder as he softly rubbed her back. He led her over to a couch and she sat down. He dropped down in front of her.

"I hope he never comes back," Ross added.

"And gets hit by a truck or something," Rocky agreed.

She'd never been called a bitch before. That part had scared her the most.

"You okay?" RIker asked and she nodded, looking down at her hands that were still shaking.

"Do you want to go back out there and play?" Ross asked her.

She thought about it, she really did. She didn't want to go back up there because then she would have to face the audience again.

But she also didn't want to seem like she had given up so easily.

So, she just nodded and stood up.

"I want to go back," She said softly.

"You don't have to, we can end the show here. It's okay." Rocky assured her.

"No." She stated firmly.

"Why not?" Ross asked.

"Because we can't give up guys, no matter what, we can't give up." Riker said and Rydel nodded.

"Exactly."

"Okay, then let's do it," Ross said, his hand going to the middle, the others joined him.

"READY SET ROCK!" They shouted and with that, went back onstage.

* * *

><p>She had played the rest of the show that night, her mind still repeating over and over the fact that she had gotten called a bitch.<p>

She looked down at the hot pink tutu she was wearing with her dress, picking it up, she let it fall again.

"If anyone says they hate it, tell them to fuck off." Ellington said and she looked up, giggling when she saw the look on his face.

"Did you just say, fuck off?" She asked him.

He nodded, "hell yeah I did."

She laughed again, "That really should be our attitude from now on, our motto, you know? To tell all the haters to fuck off."

"It can be yours and mine," He told her. "Our own special little code."

She smiled, "I like the sound of that."

"Guys!" Rocky motioned with his head for them to join him.

"Ready?" Riker asked. "Let's get pumped!" They all cheered and then put their hands in the middle of the huddle.

"READY SET ROCK!"

* * *

><p>Twenty shows. They had played twenty shows and not one person complimented them.<p>

She was starting to doubt their abilities to actually become something big.

And telling the haters to fuck off was starting to become harder and harder.

But she thought, maybe this show would be it. This would be the one that would help them get a bit of recognition.

"Boo! You suck!" An audience member shouted out. People started throwing things at them.

"That bitch in the tutu needs to get off the stage!" Someone yelled.

Rydel watched as her father and Ryland tried to get security to get them to leave, a bunch of things happening at once.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and then said it.

"Stop!" Her voice echoed throughout the theatre. "Just stop!"

Everyone did and looked at her.

"I…" She realized she had put herself on the spot and then took another deep breath before continuing. She looked at her father, "don't waste your time trying to get them to leave, it's not going to make a difference if every time someone says something negative, you kick them out." She said and her father just nodded, backing away from one of the people who had thrown an object on stage. "To those who hate us for no reason, I just have one thing to say to you."

"What's that you're sorry you're the worst band to ever exist?" Someone shouted and she saw her father move like he was going to go after them. But luckily Riker had been next to him and stopped him from going further.

"Fuck you." She finally said and with that turned and ran off the stage.

"You guys don't have to like us, but it doesn't give you a right to call her a bitch or to tell us you hate us to our face." She heard Ellington continue, but at that moment, she was too shaken up by what she had done. It was so out of character for her.

"Rydel?" Her mother slowly approached her. "Are you alright?"

"You're not going to yell at me for that?" She asked her.

Stormie shook her head, "you were standing up for yourself, though it wasn't exactly the best way to go about it, I saw what you were trying to do. You do know better than to say bad words, but I think at this point, you look like you've had enough."

Rydel's eyes filled with tears. "Is it bad that I want to quit? Mom. I want to quit, okay? I don't want to do this anymore. I'm tired of being called a bitch, I'm tired of getting hit because of things they're throwing at us and I'm just tired of us getting nowhere. I don't want to do this anymore!" Her mother immediately hugged her as she cried against her chest, holding her tight.

"If you don't want to do this anymore, then you don't have to." Stormie quietly told her.

Rydel nodded and then hugged her mother tighter. "I'm scared to tell them." She was referring to her bandmates.

"They'll understand."

"And if they don't?" She looked up at her mother and saw in her eyes, the heartbreak she felt for her children.

"They will someday." She assured her.

Rydel nodded and then lay her head on her mother's chest again.

* * *

><p>It had been a week since the last show their last performance.<p>

She hadn't said anything about quitting yet and neither had her mother.

She knew she had to soon though.

The week had been filled with a bunch of rehearsals, but for dance. She, and everyone else, had a recital coming up and they couldn't back out of it. Since dancing was pretty much her first love, she was more invested in that then she was in music.

Then, one night, during dinner, Riker had called for a band rehearsal.

That was when she broke the news.

"I'm sorry, but I can't make it." She said and Riker looked at her.

"Why not?"

She shrugged, at first not making any eye contact with him, but then decided it was the way to go.

"I quit."

"You quit? What do you mean you quit?" Riker demanded.

"I mean that I'm sick of being called a bitch and getting things thrown at me. I'm sick of getting told we suck and that we will never amount to anything. I want to dance, Riker. That's what I moved out here for. Don't make me do something I don't want to do anymore just to help you and make you feel better about yourself." Rydel just glared at him, waiting for him to say something to her.

To her surprise, he didn't say anything. And neither did anybody else.

"Okay." He said quietly and she nodded, looking down. She looked up at again and that was when she and Ross eyes had connected.

And she knew, in that moment, that he understood her better than anybody else ever could.

* * *

><p>She was alone in the dance studio, going over her dance routine, when the door opened. She stopped, pausing the music and breathlessly stared in the mirror as she tried to catch her breath.<p>

"I heard you quit the band," Ellington said as he stepped closer to her.

She nodded and looked up at him, "you heard right." She answered.

He suddenly grabbed her by her waist, taking his hand in hers, he spun her around. He stopped spinning her and she fell against him, her arms wrapped around his neck as she looked up at him.

She remembered they were partners for a routine and that was pretty much what he was doing. So, she just decided to go along with it.

"Why?" He finally asked after a few moments.

"I don't want to be called a bitch anymore," She responded. "Saying fuck off to the haters is harder than it looks."

He took her hand and spun her around and around and she fell to the ground, going in between his legs as he fell above her, catching himself, he jumped up again and she posed, then he grabbed her hand and pulled her close again.

"I know, I saw it at the last performance, you looked pretty upset."

She remembered that he hadn't been able to talk to her because his mother had rushed him home since he had school the next day.

After they went through their dance routine a few more times, he pulled her super close, his forehead against hers.

"You can do anything you want to do," He told her, as if he was reminding her of something. "You're strong, you're amazing and most importantly, you're Rydel Lynch."

"What does my name have to do with anything?" She asked him.

"Everything." He responded. "There is only one Rydel Lynch in this world and you are it. You play the keyboards like nobody's business and you're probably the most amazing dancer I have ever seen in my life." He paused, "you've got talent and you've got that spunk a lot of people don't have."

She smiled, "spunk?"

He nodded, "you want to quit, fine, but remember what Riker said at one of our first shows? What we all promised?"

She nodded, "no matter what we can't give up."

He nodded, "words to live by."

She sighed and that was when something seemed to click in her mind. She immediately hugged him.

"Thanks, Ellington." She whispered.

He hugged her back, "anytime." He responded, hugging her close, resting his chin on top of her head. They both opened their eyes and looked in the mirror and then at each other.

They sure made a pretty good team.

* * *

><p>"Riker, Rocky, Ross," Rydel said, gaining the attention of her brothers. "Put down whatever you're doing."<p>

"Why?" Riker asked.

"I'm doing math homework," Ross added.

She made a face, "gross, do it later."

"Why?" Rocky repeated.

She looked behind her, sharing a smile with Ellington and then focused back on her brothers.

"Because we've got band rehearsal to get to," She reminded them.

It took about a second, but her words soon registered in her brothers' minds. Their eyes lit up and she put her hand in the middle.

Ross' hand was first, then Ellington's, then Rocky's, then Riker's.

"RYLAND!" She yelled.

"What?" He yelled back.

"Come into the kitchen!"

He soon showed up and raised an eyebrow, "what's going on."

"Just come here," Rydel told him and he smiled, putting his hand in the middle of the huddle. Rydel started it, her hand dropping as everyone followed her.

"AHHHH, READY SET ROCK!" They all shouted and then she giggled, hugging Ellington tight.

* * *

><p>"Okay guys, no matter what anybody says, remember that you all have talent, each and every one of you," Mark said, looking at each and every band member in the eye, pausing longer for his daughter.<p>

"And no matter what, we can't give up," Rydel added.

Riker smirked at her, "You know, I think I've heard that somewhere before."

She smiled and playfully rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for coming back," He added quietly and she nodded, wrapping her arms around him she hugged him tight.

"We're going to be big someday," She told him as she slowly pulled away, "I wasn't going to ruin your dream."

"It's your dream now too," Riker reminded her, "it always has been."

She nodded, "let's ride this ride together," She smirked, her hand going into the middle of the huddle. "Ready guys?"

Ross grinned, Ellington smiled at her, Rocky pumped his fist, Ryland let out a "shoo!", Riker grinned and she just closed her eyes, took a deep breath and smiled, taking it all in.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Ross suddenly asked and she opened her eyes.

"Hear what?"

They all stayed quiet and then Ellington nodded.

"They're chanting, they're going, 'R5! R5!'" Rocky jumped up and down excitedly.

"R5! R5! R5!" They heard the crowd and then Rydel had a flashback to earlier that day when they did soundcheck. She saw at least a hundred people show up, excitedly running to her. She then remembered they were chanting their names one by one and cheering them on as they set up their instruments.

She smiled to herself.

"I am so proud of you guys," Stormie said, hugging them all. "And you," She spoke directly to Rydel, "I am especially proud of you for not giving up."

"Giving up isn't an option." Rydel reminded her, smiling as she hugged her.

"Next, we're going to be playing stadiums," Ross said and everyone agreed, cheering together.

"And we're going to be big," Ellington nodded.

"As big as the Rolling Stones," Rydel added.

Everyone smiled at that since she had been the one who had originally been so negative about the band's success at first.

"Ready?" Riker asked, his hand going back to the huddle.

"Ready." Rydel confirmed.

Then they all put their hands on top of the others.

"READY SET ROCK!" They shouted.

And then it was time to go onstage and rock out like they were always meant to do.

* * *

><p><em>I do realize that Ready, Set, Rock is in like every line break but it's more to show how supportive they were of one another even though people were telling them they weren't going to make it in the music business and stuff. It's like they're way of encouraging each other even with all the hate they were receiving. In a way, Ellington is also that for Rydel. But yeah. I don't know, I thought it would be sweet to have in the story. <em>

_Soooo yeah, tell me what you think! The next part will be up soon. _

_Sooner than you think._

_Reviews would rock._

_Much love xx_


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